Assault for subscription refusal

The president of a traders’ organisation in Picnic Garden was allegedly assaulted on Friday after he turned down a demand from a Kali puja committee that the association pay Rs 5,001 as subscription.

The traders lodged a complaint against the puja committee with Tiljala police station.

Gobinda De, the president of Picnic Garden Apon Samity, wrote in his complaint that two committee members, known to be Trinamul activists, came to him on Friday and demanded Rs 5,001 from the organisation for a puja on CN Roy Road.

“One of them was Lalu Bose. I told them that we can’t pay the amount and pointed out that the organisation had paid Rs 1,001 last year. Our association has 75 members, mostly grocers and owners of garment shops.”

The 57-year-old alleged that his refusal prompted Lalu and his associate to pull him by his collar and beat him up.

“I never thought of being humiliated like this. They are of my son’s age and yet they did not hesitate to assault me,” De said.

“The accused are absconding. We are trying to track them down,” said an officer of Tiljala police station.

Metro: Metro trains will be available at intervals of 10 and 15 minutes on Tuesday. Trains will run at 10-minute intervals between 5pm and 8pm.

Arrest: Two youths were arrested on the Nandan premises on Sunday evening for allegedly distributing pamphlets and shouting slogans demanding the screening of Gandu, a Bengali film by Q that has been a rage in the virtual world but deemed unfit for public viewing, at the ongoing 18th Calcutta Film Festival. Police said the duo — Abhinabha Sarkar and Chandan Prasad — claimed to be fiction writers.

Man held: Asish Singh Sardar, 30, was arrested in Sealdah on Sunday evening for allegedly snatching a woman’s chain and firing at her in Sonarpur last Thursday.

Fire: A fire broke out in a watch shop at Radhabazar at 4pm on Sunday. The blaze was controlled in 30 minutes.